Knitting needle



Oct. 19, 1965 B. H. SUMEGI 3,212,301

' KNITTING NEEDLE Filed Oct. 7, 1963 W INVENTOR Barbara H. Sumeg/ BY 4 W ATTORNEY United States Patent Office 3,212,301 Patented Oct. 19, 1965 3,212,301 KNITTING NEEDLE Barbara H. Sumegi, Rio de La Plata 250, Apt. 45,

San Isidro, Lima, Peru Filed Oct. 7, 1963, Ser. No. 314,451 3 Claims. (Cl. 66-117) This invention relates to knitting needles particularly hand needles used for knitting yarn or other threads. Such needles are made in different lengths.

In order to knit large areas of fabric the usual hand knitting needles are long and hence somewhat awkward to manipulate. Where the area or size of the piece to be knitted is small, shorter needles may be more effectively used. Further, shorter needles may be more readily shipped or transported and more conveniently carried by the user in a handbag or the like with the materials to be knitted. It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a knitting needle which may be varied in length so that it may be instantly converted from a very short needle to a very long one and vice versa.

Another object of the invention is to provide a needle of this character which has a body portion comprised of two or more slidably telescoped sections which are interlocked to each other to provide a unitary needle and which are frictionally held in their relatively adjusted positions to provide a very short needle, a very long needle or one of intermediate length by simply sliding one section relative to another section.

Another object is to provide an extensible needle of the above character which is simple in construction and effective in use.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view, the invention resides in the novel combinations and arrangements of parts and the novel features of construction hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which show the present preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view of my improved knitting needle showing it in its very short or collapsed condition;

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing the needle partially extended;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section taken on line 33 in FIG. 2, on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3 but showing how two telescoped sections are locked together to prevent their separation;

FIG. 5 is a cross section taken on line 55 in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross section taken on line 66 in FIG. 3 and FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the spring element of the device.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, the numeral 10 denotes as a whole the shank or body portion of the needle which has at one end the usual point 11 and at its other end the usual head 12 to prevent the stitches or loops from slipping off of the needle. The straight needle body 10 is made extensible to vary its length by making it of a plurality of telescopically engaged slidable sections, the point being on one section and the head on a different section. The needle may comprise two, three or more sections but as shown, it has a front or outer section 13 which has the point 11, an inner intermediate section 14 and an inner rear section 15 which has the head 12. The sections may be made of metal, celluloid or one of the modern hard plastic materials, and while the rear section might be solid. I preferably make all three sections of straight tubes that are of cylindrical shape in cross section. The main or front section 13 has an internal diameter slightly greater than the external diameter of the inner intermediate section 14 and likewise the external diameter of the rear section 15 is slightly less than the internal diameter of the section 14. While all three sections may have the same length, I preferably make the front section somewhat longer than the other sections so that when the parts are in the extreme collapsed or telescoped position shown in FIG. 1 the body 10 may have a length somewhat less than the usual short knitting needle. When the user desires a longer needle it is only necessary to pull the intermediate section 14 partly out of the section 13 and/or pull the rear section 15 partly out of the section 14, as will be understood on reference to FIG. 2.

In order to lock the two or more sections together to form a unitary needle and to frictionally hold the sections in their relatively adjusted positions, I provide between each two adjoining sections the coupling means shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. On the front end of an inner section such as 14 or 15 I form a reduced neck or head 19 that provides an annular transversely extending stop shoulder 20 and a curved or inclined cam 21. These parts coact with a combined locking and tensioning spring 22 fixed in an outer section such as 13 or 14. 'The spring 22 is a leaf spring made from a flat thin strip of steel or other resilient metal and it normally has the shape shown in FIGS. 4 and 7. The straight end 23 of this elongated leaf spring may be welded, riveted or otherwise fixed to the inner wall of the outer section at a substantial distance from the open end of the latter, as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4. The spring extends longitudinally of the telescoped sections and its curved end 24 normally projects inwardly and will be engaged by the cam portion 21 of the head 19 when the inner section 14 is pushed into the outer section 13, so that when the head has passed the free end of the spring the latter will snap into engagement with the stop shoulder 20 and thereby prevent the separation of the sections as will be understood upon reference to FIG. 4. When the section 14 is pushed further into the section 13 so that the neck 18 is moved beyond the spring the larger diameter of the section 14 will cause the curved free end of the spring to be flattened as seen in FIGS. 3 and 6. The spring will then frictionally hold the two sections in their relatively adjusted positions. The thickness of the leaf spring, the external diameter of the section 14 and the internal diameter of the section 13 are such that when the parts are in the position shown in FIG. 3, there will be relatively little canting or angling of the two sections relative to each other.

It will be seen that the slidable joint or coupling between adjoining telescoped sections of the needle body, will not only prevent the sections from being pulled apart but will frictionally retain them in various relatively adjusted positions. Hence the user may quickly vary the length of the needle by simply sliding the selections more or less into and out of each other according to the size of the piece of material that is to be knitted. There is the further advantage that when the sections are completely telescoped as in FIG. 1, the needle is short for convenience in shipment and in carrying in a knitting bag or the like.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it will be seen that novel and advantageous provision has been made for carrying out the objects of the invention, and while preferences have been disclosed, attention is invited to the possibility of making variations within the scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. In a hand knitting needle that may be varied in length, the combination of (a) a straight outer section of cylindrical tubular form,

(b) a straight inner section of cylindrical tubular form telescopically slidable in said outer section,

(c) a reduced tubular neck portion at the inner end of arranged to engage said stop shoulder to limit the said inner section, extent of movement of the inner section in one ((1) an enlarged head on said neck portion provided direction relative to the outer section.

with a cam portion and an annular stop shoulder 3. A variable length hand knitting needle, comprising disposed transversely of said inner section, and 5 at least two telescopically-arranged slidably-rnovable (e) a normally curved, elongated, leaf spring fixed at sections the inner one of which includes at one end one end to the inner wall of said outer section in spaced relation to the end of the latter that receives said inner section, said spring extending longitudinally of said sections and having its free portion in the path of movement of said head, whereby when said inner section is slid into said outer section a predetermined distance, said cam portion will move the free portion of the spring outwardly and then permit the end of the spring to engage said stop shoulder to prevent separation of the sections, and

(f) upon further inwardly movement of said inner section, the cylindrical portion of said inner section will flatten said spring and cause it to frictionally hold said sections against relative sliding movement until one of the sections is positively moved.

2. A variable length hand knitting needle, comprising at least two telescopically-arranged slidably-movable sections, the inner one of said sections including at one end a reduced neck portion defining an enlarged a reduced neck portion defining an enlarged head portion having at its free extremity a cam surface and at its rear extremity a stop shoulder; and a normally curved leaf spring disposed longitudinally between the inner and outer sections and secured at one end to the outer section, said spring being resiliently biased into engagement with the outer periphery of the inner section to frictionally hold the sections in relatively adjusted positions, the free end of said leaf spring being arranged to engage said stop shoulder to prevent movement of said inner section beyond a given position relative to the outer section, said cam means being operable to displace the free end of said spring radially outwardly as said inner section is moved toward said given position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,268,752 6/18 Metcalf 661l7 ead portion having at its free extremi y a cam sur 2,488,480 11/49 Splrt 343 901 X face and at its rear extremity a stop shoulder; and

leaf spring means secured within the outer section for frictionally engaging the outer surface of the DONALD PARKER Prlmary Exammer' inner section and thereby maintain the sections in RUSSELL C. MADER, Examiner. relatively adjusted positions, said leaf spring being 

2. A VARIABLE LENGTH HAND KNITTING NEEDLE, COMPRISING AT LEAST TWO TELESCOPICALLY-ARRANGED SLIDABLY-MOVABLE SECTIONS, THE INNER ONE OF SAID SECTIONS INCLUDING AT ONE END A REDUCED NECK PORTION DEFINING AN ENLARGED HEAD PORTION HAVING AT ITS FREE EXTREMITY A CAM SURFACE AND AT ITS REAR EXTREMITY A STOP SHOULDER; AND LEAF SPRING MEANS SECURED WITHIN THE OUTER SECTION FOR FRICTIONALLY ENGAGING THE OUTER SURFACE OF THE INNER SECTION AND THEREBY MAINTAIN THE SECTIONS IN RELATIVELY ADJUSTED POSITIONS, SAID LEAF SPRING BEING ARRANGED TO ENGAGE SAID STOP SHOULDER TO LIMIT THE EXTENT OF MOVEMENT OF THE INNER SECTION IN ONE DIRECTION RELATIVE TO THE OUTER SECTION. 